C C Music Factory

Overview

C+C Music Factory consisted primarily of the two record producers Robert Clivillés and David Cole and vocalists who varied by the particular recording project. The group's moniker is derived from the first letters of Clivillés and Cole's surnames. Eric Kupper replaced Cole (who died in 1995) in 2010.

Origins

Before forming C+C Music Factory Robert Clivillés and David Cole were active in 2 Puerto Ricans, a Blackman, and a Dominican and The 28th Street Crew in the late 1980s. In 1990 Clivillés and Cole released a single, featuring later C+C Music Factory rapper Freedom Williams, called "Get Dumb! (Free Your Body)" as The Crew. The song features a prominent sample of Boyd Jarvis' 1983 song "The Music Got Me." It was sampled without Jarvis' permission therefore the situation resulted in a lawsuit against Cole and Clivillés.

Creation and success

In 1989 Clivillés and Cole hired the artists Zelma Davis (Vocalist), Martha Wash (Vocalist) and Freedom Williams (MC) to vocalize all the tracks for Gonna Make You Sweat, the group's first album. In 1990 it peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 album chart, No. 11 on the R&B album chart, and went 5x platinum. Elana Cooper was hired as Lead Vocalist for the initial overseas tour(s) awaiting Zelma Davis green card clearance.

All four singles from their debut album reached No. 1 on Billboard's Dance/Club Play chart, and all four were also crossover Pop and R&B hits. The first single, "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)", reached No. 1 on Billboard's Hot 100 and R&B Singles chart (and No. 3 in the UK). The fourth and final single from their debut album, "Just a Touch of Love", featured in the movie Sister Act. The album contained two more Top 5 singles; "Here We Go (Let's Rock & Roll)" reached No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart (and No. 20 in the UK), and "Things That Make You Go Hmmm" (inspired by a phrase uttered periodically by late-night talk show host, Arsenio Hall) reached No. 4 (and No. 4 in the UK).

In 1992, they had another No. 1 Dance/Club play hit with the song "Keep It Comin'" (Dance Till You Can't Dance No More); with emcee Q-Unique and lead and background vocalist Deborah Cooper that was recorded for the soundtrack and opening cheerleading routine from the movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Second and third album

The duo's second album, Anything Goes! released in 1994, had three less successful singles, "Do You Wanna Get Funky," "Boriqua Anthem" and "Take a Toke." Only the first reached the Hot 100, but all three songs did achieve high critical acclaim in some circles. The album peaked at No. 106 on the Billboard 200, and No. 39 on the R&B album chart. This album mainly featured on vocals hip-hop outfit Trilogy and the returning Zelma Davis and Martha Wash. Freedom Williams was asked to return but declined this invitation.

David Cole died on January 24, 1995.

An album was released in Europe in late 1995 by Robert Clivillés with the name C+C Music Factory, which spawned one more US No. 1 Dance/Club Play hit "I'll Always be Around." Neither the single nor the album featured David Cole. The album was released by MCA in 1995 in Europe, but it was not released in the US. "I'll be Around" was released as a vinyl and CD promo and vinyl and CD single in the USA on MCA Records. This was the final studio album of new material to be released under the C+C Music Factory name. A 1996 promo maxi single "Don't Stop The Remix" was the last single released by the group (only in Japan).

2010 comeback

In 2010 C+C Music Factory reformed with Eric Kupper stepping in to replace Cole. Their first soft release was the single "Live Your Life" as C+C Music Factory Presents Scarlett Santana in early 2010 on a Bill Coleman Remixxer Compilation album. A new release single, "Rain" by Scarlett Santana featuring CnC Music Factory, was released in August 2011.

Releases under alternate names

In 1991, as Clivillés + Cole, the duo released an LP-single A-side featuring a cover of U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)", but it was the B-side "Deeper Love", featuring vocals by Deborah Cooper (a long time Clivillés and Cole vocalist) and Paul Pesco that proved to be a hit, peaking at No. 15 in the UK. Deborah Cooper performed "Deeper Love" on Saturday Night Live with C+C Music Factory. It was also covered by Aretha Franklin with production by Clivillés + Cole. Both sides charted on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1992: "A Deeper Love" peaked at #44, while "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" reached #54. In 1992 as Clivillés + Cole an album was released called Greatest Remixes Vol. 1 featuring remixes by the duo of their own songs along with other artists' songs. The video for these songs was actually one long featurette, beginning with "Deeper Love" and then continuing into "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" halfway through the video. The video was labelled "Pride (A Deeper Love)". Some networks preferred to show the videos separately while others played the whole length.

In 1992, the duo assembled The S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M., only one song of this group was ever released. A special uptempo vocal club remix was released as a promo single by Arista Records.

Clivillés and Cole later released a new single under the moniker The 28th Street Crew called O in 1994. In 1994 Clivillés and Cole produced a song for El General "Las Chicas", which borrowed heavily from the song "Boriqua Anthem" on the "Anything Goes" album.

Since then, Robert Clivillés has produced on his own including the membership of the group MVP as well as one last album release in 1996 on Columbia under the moniker Robi Rob's Club World and various other releases under different names.

2003 trademark acquisition by Freedom Williams

In 2003, Freedom Williams acquired the federal trademark to use the C & C Music Factory name for live performances, and has toured under that name,. Since 2014 Freedom Williams has owned the trademark rights for the name for all related efforts, not just live performances. Founding producer Clivillés has labeled this "the biggest insult in the world".

Music videos

The visuals and production for C+C Music Factory's first videos helped to distinguish the group's first releases from previous mainstream dance hits like Technotronic's "Pump Up the Jam". Controversy erupted when it was discovered that vocalist Zelma Davis lip-synced to Martha Wash's vocals in the video for the group's first single, "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)." Wash later sued the group and appeared on the Joan Rivers show unannounced immediately after the Milli Vanilli lip-sync controversy erupted. Speculation about bad blood between Wash and the group were laid to rest when Wash and Davis both appeared in the video of 1994's Hot Dance Music/Club Play No. 1 single "Do You Wanna Get Funky," on which they both shared lead vocals.

A video of "Just a Touch of Love" is featured at the beginning of VHS copies of the movie Sister Act. The video consists of members of the band singing and dancing with nuns in the movie, edited together with scenes from the movie.

The house-music cover and remix of U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)" featured Deborah Cooper on lead vocals, with Robert and David singing background parts.